Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Susan Collins hold double-digit leads over their opponents in the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maine, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, leads Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, by 12 points while Collins, a Republican, leads Democratic Rep. Tom Allen by 14 points.

In the presidential race, Obama leads McCain 49 to 37 percent and 11 percent are undecided. Collins leads Allen 55 to 41 percent.

Obama leads among voters under age 35, among women and he is running even with McCain among male voters.

McCain leads among older voters.

Obama leads 54 to 29 percent among independent voters, who outnumber registered Democrats and registered Republicans.

Obama and McCain are nearly tied among small business owners and self-described supporters of the business community.

The poll also sampled voters in the Portland media market and the Bangor – Presque Isle market. Obama led 50 to 36 percent in the southern part of the state and 49 to 38 percent in the northern part of the state.

See more below about the U.S. Senate race.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will attend a fundraiser at the home of former President George Bush in Kennebunkport on July 31, according to an invitation that has been sent out.

(UPDATE: The campaign says that this date is tentative and subject to change).

There is a photo-op with Bush and his wife, Barbara, at 11:30 and a small reception at 12 (that's for the high dollar donors). There's a bigger reception at The Colony Hotel on Ocean Avenue at 12:30.

Unless McCain or Sen. Barack Obama get to Maine before then, that will mark the first visit by a presidential candidate to the state. It's unclear now if McCain will hold a campaign rally.

The New York Times had an interesting "Man in the News" profile of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois on Wednesday, putting Obama "on the couch" to analyze the roots of his publicly cerebral and drama-free personality.

Here's an interesting nugget on how Obama reacted to winning Maine's Democratic caucuses on Feb. 10:

Told in February that he had won the caucuses in Maine, an overwhelmingly white state that he had expected to lose, he nodded, mumbled “That’s great,” and turned back to a phone call.

See the full story here.

Rep. Michael Michaud and at least 15 other Democrats held a conference call last Friday with Senator Barack Obama to discuss trade and globalization issues.

"It actually was a very worthwhile process and I'm very pleased that both presidential candidates took time out their very grueling schedules to sit down with 15 to 20 members to answer our questions," Michaud said in a phone interview.

Most of the Democrats on the phone call have not endorsed either Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton. Michaud and others had an hour long meeting with Clinton earlier this month to discuss the issues ranging from China's undervalued currency, trade agreements, and patent reform legislation.

Michaud said both candidates entertained "very pointed" questions and both did a 'very good job" answering them. Both candidates could not answer some of the questions and promised to follow up.

Michaud had endorsed Sen. John Edwards, but he has remained uncommitted since Edwards dropped out of the race. He has no deadline to make up his mind.

Democratic Party leaders want the contested primary to end sooner rather than later, fearing that a protracted race will hurt the nominee in the fall.

Marc Ambinder, a political blogger at The Atlantic Monthly magazine, is one of the best political reporters in Washington. He's started compiling his own short lists for vice presidential picks for Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. I am not sure why he did not include Senator Hillary Clinton. The lists are below.

Also, I want to thank those of you for pointing out that I misspelled Army Gen. David P-E-T-R-A-E-U-S.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wants super delegates to endorse either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton by July 1.

"Somebody's going to lose this race with 49.8 percent of the vote, and that person has got to pull their supporters in behind the nominee,” Dean said on CBS’s “Early Show.” “That’s our obligation. Because in the end this is not about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it’s about our country."

On Thursday night, the Androscoggin Democratic Committee rejected a resolution calling for Maine's superdelegates to endorse Obama or Clinton in proportion to the results of Maine's Democratic caucuses (a 60-40 split for Obama).

Sam Spencer, a super delegate and one of Maine's two DNC members, told those in attendance that it would be best to wait until the primary season ended and ran through options of what Maine's nine superdelegates could do.

In short, they can all vote for Obama because he won the state; vote in proportion to the Maine caucus results, vote with the national pledged delegates, vote for the winner of the national popular vote, or vote present on the first ballot (which could throw the convention into a tizzy).

After Spencer spoke, the committee rejected the resolution.

Check out this item by Paul Kane in today's Washington Post.

Paul Kane, covered Maine politics as a younger reporter with States News Service, and went on to work at Roll Call before jumping to the Post last year. His career path is of interest only because he has some institutional memory when it comes to Maine politics.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has been ridiculed for exaggerating the dangers of a visit she made to Tuzla in 1996 with her daughter, Chelsea, rock singer Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad, the comedian.

But Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and six other senators actually did face the threat of sniper fire when they landed in Sarajevo. They stepped off the airplane to face a wall of fire trucks, which blocked potential sniper fire, and then they were hustled into armored cars.

Most CODELs, Congressional Delegation trips, are tame affairs. But every now and then there is a real adventure. In February, Sens. Joseph Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel were forced to land on an Afghanistan mountaintop in a blinding snowstorm. They sat at 8,000 feet for several hours before a convoy of Army vehicles drove the treacherous mountain roads to fetch and bring them back to a U.S. base.

As the fight for the Democratic Party's nomination continues, the Clinton camp is pushing a new strategy: pledged delegates are not really pledged.

Now, we've reported extensively on the so-called superdelegates: the party poo-bahs who can decide whom to endorse at a time of their choosing. But the Clinton campaign on Tuesday told reporters that the pledged delegates - the ones elected at the caucuses and primaries - are not legally bound to their candidate.

"No delegate is bound by party rules to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged," said Harold Ickes, a senior political aide to Clinton.

If a lower level aide had said that pledges delegates don't have to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, that would be one thing. But it's Harold Ickes, a scion of the rough and tumble of New York politics, the manager of the presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a deputy chief of staff to President Clinton.

Ickes helped write the party's delegate selection rules in the 1980s.

After Ickes drops that bombshell, Phil Singer, Clinton's combative spokesman, said that, "We have said and continue to say that we are not seeking or asking pledge delegates for Sen. Obama to flip over. There is a rule, but we are not engaged in any effort."

Every day, including Saturdays and Sundays (excluding Easter Sunday), the Obama and/or Clinton campaigns hold conference calls for reporters to discuss the "news of the day," float a new message and/or respond to an attack from their opponent.

For a recap of the various calls from both sides, take a look at Politico reporter Ben Smith's blog. Some of the reporting in the posts are based on information from the conference calls.

The Clinton camp has used these conference calls to frame the day's news coverage. Whether they have been successful is not clear (to get a flavor of what "news" they push, see my previous post).

At a speech in Philadelphia today, Barack Obama will try to quash the furor over controversial remarks made by his pastor.

Below is the text of his speech, which his campaign sent to reporters minutes ago. Consider it a sneak-peak.

In short, Obama, who is running for the Democratic nomination, denounces remarks his pastor made blaming the United States for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and calling the United States the U.S.A. of KKK. He explains that what happens inside black churches is different than what happens inside white churches.

But the crux of the speech, which probably is too far down in the text, links the simmering anger felt among a generation of black men and women who grew up during segregation to the anger and resentment of working and middle-class white Americans.

Here is the key part of his speech that voters, the media and blogosphere must home in on for Obama to move past what has become a distraction to his campaign.

Maine's Democratic Party's superdelegate contingent changed once again on Sunday when Jennifer DeChant reclaimed her superdelegate status.

DeChant had lost her status for missing three party meetings in a row. The party held a vote this weekend at its bimonthly meeting in Augusta, and DeChant won.

The vote means that Rita Moran of Winthrop, who had been chosen to replace DeChant, will not be a superdelegate to the national Democratic convention.

DeChant said she would continue to wait before endorsing Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. She wants to cast her vote in a way that would reflect the popular vote from Maine's Democratic Caucuses, which Obama won by a 19-point margin over Clinton, 59 to 40.

George Mitchell, the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader, grew up in Maine. His father worked at Colby College. He went to Bowdoin College. He served as a judge and senator from Maine.

As former senate majority leader, Mitchell gets a vote at the Democratic convention as a superdelegate, those party leaders and pooh-bahs who can endorse whom they want when they want. Maine has 10 of them.

But Mitchell now lives and practices law - and more importantly is registered to vote - in New York City. So the Democratic National Committee told Mitchell that he would be seated with the New York delegation.

So is he a Mainer or a New Yorker? And does he support Obama or Clinton? The Press Herald has tried to reach Mitchell on multiple occasions for stories on superdelegates, but he has not returned the calls. Perhaps we'll try e-mail.

Al Hunt, the executive editor of Bloomberg News here.in Washington, wrote on Monday that former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, a Democrat, should step in to resolve the dispute between the national Democratic Party and Florida and Michigan.

The party stripped the two states of their delegates because they held primaries too early. The candidates promised not to campaign in those states, but Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., remained on the ballot and won both states.

Hunt, the former bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in Washington, covered Mitchell's graduation speech at Colby College in 1999 and earned an honorary doctorate there.

It's Tuesday, March 4, and voters in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island head to the polls. I'm not in the business of making predictions, but I will point to some great stories in today's papers.

First, Sen. Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, distances himself from the campaign. To read this story click here.

Second, check out Clinton's appearance on the Daily Show.

Third, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., if elected, might have some fence mending to do with Canada, and Canada might have some making up if Obama is elected. Click here to read this story.

The Ellsworth American reported on Thursday that former Sen. George Mitchell, D-N.Y., will be seated with the New York delegation since that is where he has been registered to vote since 2004.

Mitchell works for the DLA Piper Law firm, based in New York City.

The Ellsworth American reported that, "Under the DNC’s own rules, delegates must be legal residents of the state they represent, with residency defined through voter registration."

Mitchell’s legal residence is an apartment at 1965 Broadway Ave. on the upper west side of Manhattan.

Former Gov. Ken Curtis also could be stripped of his Maine superdelegate status because he is registered to vote in Florida, the article reports.

I've obtained a copy of a Democratic spreadsheet of a possible scenario if the Democratic nomination race does not end after March 4, when Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont hold primaries.

Assuming Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., split - Obama wins in Texas and Vermont, Clinton wins in Ohio and Rhode Island, Obama won't greatly expand his lead.

If Clinton decides to soldier on, pundits, strategists and the media are looking to Pennsylvania's primary on April 22 to decide the race. Assuming Pennsylvania does little to clarify matters, here's what to look for afterwards.

Marianne Stevens, the vice chairwoman of Maine's Democratic Party, announced today that she would support Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Maine has 10 superdelegates. Stevens and Democratic Party Chairman John Knutson will support Obama. Gov. John Baldacci and former Gov. Ken Curtis have endorsed Clinton.

Democratic Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud and former Sen. George Mitchell have not endorsed (Michaud had supported Edwards).

Sam Spencer, a Portland developer and DNC member, will remain neutral.

Rita Moran, the state's second DNC member, has said she will throw her support to Obama or Clinton. For now, she is neutral.

Knutson gets to appoint a 10th superdelegate at Maine's state Democratic Party convention in May.

Here is Stevens' statement.

There's an inflammatory photo of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., dressed in Muslim garb during a trip to Kenya in 2006.

It's not unusual for lawmakers and even presidents to don the local costume when traveling abroad, but the photo is particularly provocative given false rumors that Obama is a Muslim (he attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago).

The Obama campaign accused Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-Ill., his lone rival for the nomination, of releasing the photo.

The Associated Press today has run the numbers on the delegate count in the Democratic presidential nomination contest.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has the overall lead in delegates, 1,361.5 to 1,267. The Illinois senator's half delegate came from the global primary sponsored by the Democrats Abroad this week.

In terms of the superdelegates, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., leads 241 to 181, according to the AP survey. But her total is down two in the past two weeks, while his is up 25.

As a reminder, Maine has 10 superdelegates. Obama won the Maine Democratic Party caucus, giving him a 15 to 9 delegate edge in the state.

It is an icy, gray day here in the nation's capital, and with Congress gone for the week, all eyes continue to focus on the McCain/New York Times saga. In a story yesterday, the Times hinted that the Arizona Republican had had a personal relationship with a younger, female lobbyist whose clients had business before his committee.

There are a few questions raised by the story. First, should the Times have printed the story without more corroborating evidence of a personal relationship?

Second, what impact will the story have on his presidential campaign? Third, are there more stories coming?

So to get a glimpse of how and why the Times decided to go with this story, click here.

To get a sense of the political fallout, click here.

To see what's coming, check out this story.

I am frequently asked when I travel outside of Washington, "what's happening in Washington?" To me, that means what story is driving the political and policy debate and/or discussion in Washington.

Well, today, this is an easy one. The New York Times has a huge story about Sen. John McCain's professional relationship with a younger, female lobbyist.

Click here to view the story.

Whether it affects his campaign now or in the fall is unclear. On one hand, it gives his opponents ammunition because it could turn McCain's perceived strength - his pro-political reform image - into a weakness. On the other, it could unite conservatives - who generally dislike the Times - behind McCain. That's something he has had trouble doing.

There has been much media coverage in recent days about the role of the so-called Democratic superdelegates, those party bigwigs and elected officials who can cast a nominating vote for a candidate of their choosing at a time of their choosing.

Maine's Democratic Party has 10 superdelegates and we've written a fair amount about where they stand. (See my most recent story here.)

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced that the youngest superdelegate in the country, Jason Rae, endorsed Obama. His statement is below.

There's been some debate over the massive turnout on Sunday for Maine's Democratic caucuses.

The Maine Democratic Party is reporting that overall turnout was 44,673 with 99 percent of precincts reporting. That is the largest turnout since 1980 when about 30,000 Mainers turned out to vote. In 2004, 17,000 Maine Democrats participated.

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination came to Portland
on Thursday evening, four days before Maine's Democratic Caucus.

President Bill Clinton kicked off a furious weekend of campaiging
at the Portland Expo Center on Thursday evening. Sens. Hillary
Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., will make separate
appearances on Saturday.

Here's the controversy of the day: Clinton challenged Obama to a
debate or town hall style meeting on Saturday, since they cross paths
(sort of); Clinton will be in Orono in the morning and Obama will
speak in Bangor in the afternoon.

Obama rejected Clinton's offer; his campaign manager told reporters it
was "sophomoric."

Maine will become a political battleground this weekend as Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., scramble to win all or some of Maine's 23 delegates.

Clinton is sending her husband, President Bill Clinton, to campaign on her behalf at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Portland Exposition Building.

The event is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending should RSVP at http://www.hillaryclinton.com/portland.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will visit Bangor on Saturday for a rally one day before Maine's Democratic Caucus, underscoring just how competitive the race could become.

The rally will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium on Saturday. The event is open to the public and media. The campaign advises against bringing in bags and signs for security reasons.

Laurie Dobson, an independent candidate for Senate, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on Wednesday.

Dobson hopes to qualify for the ballot to run against Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Dobson went on a hunger strike last year to protest the fact that Congress had not begun impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

I'm not sure Clinton would want this endorsement given that Dobson writes: "Actually, I can't stand her. But I have looked at who her advisors are, and I’m convinced she is the better choice."

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager predicted on Wednesday that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., would win Maine's Democratic Caucus and that the Clinton camp plans "five or six trips" to the state.

"She has shown real strength in the northeast," said Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, who spoke with reporters on Wednesday. "We're going to do as well as we can."

At stake are 23 pledged delegates. After yesterday's primaries and caucuses, Obama leads Clinton 910 to 882 delegates, according to Plouffe's count. That does not include the so-called super delegates. More of them have endorsed Clinton. To grab the nomination, a candidate needs to win 2,025 of the 4.049 total delegates.

Earlier today, I heard from a spokesman at the Democratic National Committee. Super delegates are appointed to the state delegation in which they are registered to vote. If former Gov. Curtis and former Sen. George Mitchell are registered to vote in Maine, they can be seated with the Maine delegation. If not, the DNC secretary will determine the course of action.

Here's an example. Former President Bill Clinton served as governor of Arkansas when he was first elected president in 1992. In 2001, he moved to New York and changed his voter registration. He will be seated with that delegation at the convention.

In today's paper, I wrote a story about the role of super delegates in nominating the Democratic candidate for president.

A few readers have wondered how former Gov. Ken Curtis can be seated at the convention as a Maine delegate if he is living in Florida full-time.

It's a good question. Curtis did not know the answer when I talked with him last week.

On Sunday, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who won the Maine Republican Caucus a day earlier, predicted that the New England Patriots would defeat the New York Giants, 28 to 14.

He had the number 14 points correct, only the Patriots were on the wrong side of that equation.

On Thursday, Democratic state Sen. Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell organized an impromptu meeting for supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to discuss how to encourage supporters of former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., to back Clinton.

The quickly organized meeting was well-attended and by some accounts, "raucus."

With Maine's Feb. 10 Democratic caucus fast approaching, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, and Clinton are laying the groundwork for a post-Super Tuesday bounce. Former President Bill Clinton called Mitchell several days ago to talk about how best to help his wife.

Mitchell said she encouraged either Clinton to visit the state. Mitchell, who has known the Clintons for years, said that when the former president said hello she responded, "Is this a joke?"

Not missing a beat, he kept on talking.

Clinton is expected to visit Boston on Feb. 4, one day before Massachusetts and 21 other states hold primaries and caucuses.

Obama is not conceding anything here in Maine. He has five paid organizers in the state; Clinton has one, according to sources in both camps. Obama announced on Thursday that he would begin advertising on television and radio in the state.

Tagg Romney, one of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's five sons, is making a campaign swing through Maine today and tomorrow, as GOP voters head to caucuses around the state.

At 11:15 this morning, Tagg Romney stops at Governor's Restaurant in Bangor. At 1:30 p.m. he'll be at Duke's Barber Shop in Augusta. Then it's off to Simones' Hot Dog Stand in Lewiston at 2:45 p.m., and to Becky's Diner in Portland at 4:30 p.m.

This evening and throughout the day tomorrow, Romney is planning to attend several Republican caucuses – in Gorham, Lewiston, Augusta, West Bath, Damariscotta and Rockport.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will begin airing television and radio advertisements in Maine as well Washington state, Washington, D.C., Nebraska, Maryland, Virginia and Louisiana, which hold their primaries on Feb. 9, 10 and 12.

Obama also has five paid staffers organizing Maine Democrats in advance of the Feb. 10 caucus. Obama reported raising $32 million in January.

Click here to view an Obama ad.

Click here to view another Obama ad.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced his Maine leadership team that he hopes will carry him to victory in the Republican caucuses, which begin on Friday.

Maine’s Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, will be chairwomen, and Snowe’s husband former Gov. John McKernan will be an honorary chairman. State Rep. Josh Tardy will be the campaign’s organizer in chief.

Twenty-two state legislators have endorsed McCain.

California is a long way from Maine and Maine lacks California's diversity. But I want this blog to be for political junkies so readers can get a feel of what is going on in Washington and out on the campaign trail. That said, here's the news that I think is really interesting.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., a liberal and aggressive black lawmaker from Los Angeles, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for president. I cannot say I saw this coming except to say that during the State of the Union speech on Monday, Waters and Clinton had a cordial conversation on the House floor. She did not seek out or speak to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as far as I saw and I was watching pretty closely.

It is hard to understate how influential Waters is in the black community and liberal politics. She is an effective political organizer, regardless of what one might think about her politics. Hopefully, this profile can give you a better understanding of who Waters is.

To view this story click here.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., raised more than $9.9 million in the last three months of 2007, according to an analysis of his campaign finance report from Congressional Quarterly's Political Money Line.

The report, which all candidates for president, the Senate and the House, must file by Jan. 31 - that's tomorrow, shows that McCain spent no money in Maine. Perhaps he is confident that backing from Maine's Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins can deliver Maine's Republican delegates to him.

To view his report click here.

With John Edwards expected to drop out of the presidential race this afternoon, I thought I'd post the Democratic congressional candidates' views on their party's presidential candidates.

I asked them whether they're supporting a particular candidate. Keep in mind that I did these interviews during the week of the New Hampshire primary, so the candidates' preferences may have changed since then.

Here are their responses: